Oil-can or tool box.



H. E. WHITNEY.'

OIL CAN OR TOOL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1909.

Patented Dec. 13, 1910.

UNITED STAT iE iPATENT OFFICE.

HORACE E. WHITNEY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DOVER STAMP- ING- AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- PORATION 0F MAINE.

OIL-CAN OR TOOL BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 13, 1910.

To oZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE E. WHITNEY, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oil-Can or Tool Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

Boxes for carrying tools or oil cans or both have heretofore been attached to the running board of an automobile by various means. Such boxes usually have a detachable cover, such cover being preferable to a hinged cover for the reason that the hinge is apt to rust, exposed as it constantly is to the weather, and if it projects into the box a tight-fittin can cannot easily be withdrawn from the box. A hinge of some sort, however, is desirable because with a hinged cover there is no likelihood that the cover will get lost.

In my invention hereinafter described means are provided for attaching the cover to the box so that it may swing as on a hinge and the same means serve to attach the box to the running board of the automobile, the oover and box, however, being separable and the box easily removable from the running board if desired.

My invention will be understood by l.0fE erence to the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows my improved box attached to the running board of an automobile, a portion of the running board only being shown. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the middle of the box, the cover being thrown back, and Fig. 3 is a detail showing a convenient form of spring clip to attach the cover and strap temporarily.

In the drawings :A is a box preferably of metal having a rim or adapted to receive the cover B and over which the cover fits. The interior of the rim is preferably flush with the walls of the box so as to offer no obstruction to the easy removal of the can or other articles which the box is designed to carry. Such cans are shown at C and D, one being used for lubricating oil and the other for an emergency supply of gasolene. Or the cans may be used for other purposes or if preferable, one can only may be used, the rest of the space being used for tools.

E indicates the running board of the automobile to which the box A is attached by the strap F provided with a buckle F by means of which the two ends of the strap may be temporarily united. A loop 0 is provided on the under side of the running board through which the strap passes, the free end of the strap having first been passed through the loop f on the front of the box. Other loops f F, f are attached to the rear and cover of the box through which the strap is passed.

To provide a hinge for the cover I use a portion of the strap F, attaching it temporarily to the cover in such a manner that it may be easily detached if desired. For this purpose I provide a loop G upon the rear of the top of the cover, which loop has a detachable clamp by which the strap and the cover are temporarily attached. One form of such clamp is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings where the loop has a spring g projecting from one edge thereof and passing back, its end being bent down to form a jaw and serrated at its end, the serrated end passing through an opening in the loo-p. The spring 9 causes the serrations to bite into the strap F so that the strap can not run through the loop unless the jaw is withdrawn. By this means so much A of the strap as lies between the loop f and the loop G becomes a hinge for the cover, of such a character that the box may be opened and the cover thrown back as shown in Fig. 2. To remove the box from the running board it is only necessary to lift the jaw g out of engagement with the strap F and pull the strap through the loops f and G and then through the loops f, f and c.

The value of this device as a practical improvement over the box attachment now in use is very great for reasons that will be apparent on consideration, and it will be seen that my invention is not based solely upon the form of clamp by which the stra and cover are clamped together as other e amps may be used for the purpose. The form shown, however, is simple and valuable for the purpose.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention is The box above described having a cover separable therefrom, loops secured to said box and cover, a flexible strap received by said loops and adapted to secure said cover in closed position, a pair of said loops on said box and-cover respectively being located adjacent the meeting edges the eof, I said boX and cover normally infiXed relaand a clamp carried by one of sald lastt10n when sald strap 1s loosened to pernnt 10 named loops on said cover and adapted desaid cover to be opened.-

t-aohably to connect said strap to said cover 7 at any suitable point in the length of said HORACE VVHITNEX' strap, whereby the portion of said strap WVitnesses:

connecting said meeting edges forms a de- GEORGE O; G. COALE, tachable hlnge for sald cover and lnalntalns M. E. FLAHERTY. 

